Shy Love NaruHina
by AnimeDiva14
Summary: A story about Hinata being depressed after her fight with Pain. She confessed her love to Naruto and yet... No response. Naruto was sure he loved Sakura but now he's hopelessly and utterly confused about his feelings now. With his new celebrity-like status, the young man can't find the chance to speak with Hinata. Naruhina with some NaruSaku. FULL SUMMARY INSIDE!
1. Chapter 1

**SHY LOVE**

 **FULL SUMMARY**

Hinata Hyuga has been feeling depressed and ashamed of herself ever since Pain's defeat at the hands of the newly declared hero of the Leaf Village: Naruto Uzumaki  
She confessed her undying love to him and tried her best to protect him with the little strength she carried and yet... No response. It was already bad enough that she wasn't any match for the powerful leader of the much feared akatsuki but to also have no response from Naruto about her confession was a bit, well... heartbreaking. Rumors had been going around about her love for Naruto and few to many have also approached her on this matter to find if what the rumors were spreading are true.

Naruto, having not been given a chance to speak to Hinata due to his new celebrity-like status, is hopelessly and utterly confused about the past recent events. Hinata, a shy but extremely kind and beautiful young woman had professed her love for the blonde, loudmouth, hot-blooded young shinobi. Naruto was sure that Sakura was the woman that he loved with all his heart but was that really the truth? Does he really love the pink-haired kunoichi or was his feelings a cover up for something else? What about Hinata? Why did he feel so torn up and at rage at the thought that she had been killed at the hands of Pain and why was he in tears when he figured out that she was alive and well? One thing is for sure: Something triggered within him since that unforgettable day.

Can Naruto sort out this strange feeling? Will he be able to get the chance he needs to have a talk with Hinata about the confession **?**

 **A/N- Some NaruSaku is gonna be in this. Also, this takes place around episode 220. In this story however, imma just pretend like Madara hadn't announced a war. So there will be no war or anything like that. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!** **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto :)**

 **Chapter 1: Hinata's Depression**

She was sitting on top of a small boulder, dangling her feet above a stream of clear clean water. She was in a secluded area near the village where her teammates, Kiba Inuzuka, Akamaru, and Shino Aburame would often relax at after finishing a exhausting mission. Hinata Hyuga sighed, placed her elbows on her thighs and rested her chin on top of her palms while looking at her reflection in the water.

"My eyes has been looking more tired lately..." She mumbled to herself.

The kunoichi wasn't wrong. For the past two weeks, her normally lighted lavender pupiless eyes was now losing its touch. Bags has been forming around her eyes; though they weren't entirely noticeable and easy to spot. Hinata's hasn't really eaten much of anything in a few days which resulted in her losing a few more pounds from her already thin frame. Her skin seemed a bit pale and this bothered the sixteen-year-old. Hopping off the boulder, Hinata splashed water on her face.

"Better." Hinata stared at herself.

"Hey Hinata!" A voice called out.

"Kiba! Akamaru!" Hinata looked behind her to see her teammate with his dog next to him. "Good morning. How are you two?"

"We're doing fine. We actually was looking for you."

Hinata blinked. "Huh? For me? What for?"

"Apparently, the hokage wants to have a word with you." The brown-haired young man placed a hand on his hip.

Hyuga stood up and stretched. "I guess i'll have to see what she wants."

"Yeah." Inuzuka nodded.

A gust of wind blew as Hinata strolled her way through a path to the village. Kiba watched her leave with a suspicious expression.

"She hasn't been seeming herself lately, huh Akamaru?"

Akamaru barked in response.

 ** _Meanwhile..._**

Naruto made his way throughout town to the newly constructed Ichiraku. Of course, while he was traveling to the restaurant, numerous fellow villagers have stopped him in order to get a autograph or photo with him. Though Naruto was glad that he was finally being acknowledged by his village, all he wanted right then was to fill his belly with his all time favorite meal: ramen. In the shop, he slurped every single strand of noodles he could take in. This time, every meal he ate was on the house. Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame, insisted for Naruto to receive their special gift as thanks for him defeating Pain.

"Another one! Right here, old man!" The hero slammed his finished bowl onto the counter.

"Hey, we said that your meals were free for today but we never said you can go slamming the bowls on the counter!" Ayame scolded Naruto, "You can end up shattering them."

"Oh right..." Naruto rubs the back of his head. "S-Sorry about that."

"Ah, don't sweat about it Naruto. One lousy bowl being shattered won't do anyone any harm." Teuchi replied while handing another bowl of miso pork ramen to Naruto, who gladly accepted it.

"Thaaaaank you." Naruto then began to quickly devour his fourth bowl.

Ayame crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. _All this ramen and yet... he never gains a single pound. Lucky guy._

Outside, Hinata slowly walked thoughout Konoha in deep thought.

 _I wonder why Lady Tsunade wants to see me. Maybe she wants me to go on a mission alone or something?_

As she passed by others, they would all gawk at the teenager then whisper to the person that they were currently by.

"Isn't that the girl who supposedly told Naruto that she was in love with him?" A middle-aged woman with black hair asked another woman with brown long hair holding a baby in her arms.

"Yeah." The woman with the baby replies, "I've also heard that she's from the main branch of the Hyuga clan."

The black-haired woman gasped. "What? No way! "

"It's true. Look for yourself! She definitely has the byakugan eyes."

Seeing Hinata's eyes closely, the childless woman agreed. "Yes, yes... I can see it. She's definitely a Hyuga girl alright but... Do you think Naruto is this girl's boyfriend?"

"No way!" The other woman scoffed. "Trust me, those Hyugas are way beyond proud and arrogant. Why would the hero of the village want to be with a girl like that?!"

Hinata's head hung low. She overheard the womens small talk and brought her closed fist gently over her heart.

 _It wasn't too long ago that everyone shunned Naruto for thinking that the nine-tails inside him made him a monster. However... they do make a point. I'm not nearly good enough to be Naruto's girlfriend._

With her bangs covering over her eyes like a dark shade, Hinata began to reflect on memories of a past event.

 ** _Flashback_**

"Naruto Uzumaki! Where have you been?" Iruka Umino glared daggers at the seven-year-old version of Naruto who had just arrived late to the academy.

"Sorry sensei, I uh... uh..." Naruto tried to remember his reasoning for being late as usual, "Oh yeah! I overslept!"

"Really now? Again?"

Naruto nodded.

Iruka sighed heavily. _I guess it can't be helped... he's just a kid with no parents to wake him up. It's a miracle he even comes to class at all._

"Just take a seat and pay attention." Iruka dismissed.

Naruto frowned but then began searching for an open seat.

 _NO! Someone took the spot next to Sakura already! Man, I should've came earlier!_

"Naruto, there's a seat next to Hinata at the back. Please hurry and sit down, you're already distracting my class."

 _Hinata?_ Naruto looked around. _What? Who's that?_

Ino Yamanaka, getting irritated with Naruto blocking her nice view of Sasuke, pointed at the main heir of the Hyuga clan. "She's right here, dummy! Now hurry up and stop blocking my view of Sasuke!"

Naruto immediately spotted the blushing girl Ino was pointing at and smiled slightly. Of course, this made Hinata look down and turn as red as a tomato.

 _N-Naruto s-sm-smiled at me!_

Unfotunately for the two of them, Naruto took her shyness and nervousness as a sign that she probably hated him just as badly as the others did.

 _Great... another one. Why shouldn't I be surprised?_

Sitting in his seat, Naruto couldn't help but notice how fidgety Hinata suddenly got. He chose to ignore her weird action and rested his chin on the table while staring at his teacher while he gave his lectures.

 _This is boring. Why can't I be hokage already? I mean I totally got the abilities for it!_

Hinata, who couldn't help but gaze at the boy she admired, couldn't stop smiling. This was her chance. Her big chance to finally say something to her crush. But what could she say? A small sentence would make her feel on top of the world. Even something as simple as: Naruto, do you need a pencil or paper? Would make her feel like an accomplished young girl.

 _A-Alright! This... T-This is it!_

Preparing herself to say something, Hinata froze completely when Naruto's innocent blue eyes made contact with her lavender ones.

"Hinata, right?" The boy spoke, "I don't have any pencils cause I lost them. Do you have one I can use?"

Speechless. That's the one word to use how Hinata was feeling. Naruto had actually SPOKE to her. With her pulse racing and her palms sweating, she shakily handed Naruto her lucky pencil. Since Naruto was expecting Hinata to plain out say no, the small child's eyes grew wide.

"T-T-This is m-m-m-my lucky pe-pencil. Y-You c-c-can have I-it, N-N-N-Naruto."

"Thanks." Naruto grabbed the purple pencil with an orange eraser and grinned. "For a moment there, I thought you were gonna say no to me like everyone else but you didn't. This is actually the nicest thing someone has done for me."

Hinata's heart hammered. Not only did Naruto GRIN at her but he THANKED her AND said she's done the nicest thing for him so far. With her immense shyness in play, Hinata didn't respond and kept looking down.

"Maybe Sakura will give me one of her own pencils if I ask...? That'll be the best thing ever if she says yes." Naruto said loudly enough for Hinata to hear.

CRACK!

That was the sound of Hinata's heart breaking in half. The boy she had been crushing on since she was a toddler had just revealed that he had a thing for the popular Sakura Haruno. For the rest of class, Hinata became even quieter than usual and felt a bit of sadness entering her.

 ** _End of flashback_**

 _Oh Naruto._

The blue-eyed male have already had a certain someone in mind and that someone wasn't Hinata. No... It was Sakura.

 _Of course he loves Sakura. She's more popular, prettier, smarter, and more skilled than I am as a ninja._

Distracted by the negative thoughts running through her mind, Hinata didn't even notice that she was beginning to walk past Ichiraku.

Inside the shop, Ayame and her father noticed the kunoichi making her way past the shop.

"Huh? Isn't that the girl everyone is saying told you that she was in love with you, Naruto?" Ayame asked as Hinata disappeared from her sight.

"So the rumors are true then, huh? You got yourself a lady?" Teuchi added in.

Immediately, Naruto began to choke on the soup that was left after eating the ramen. When he managed to catch his breath, Naruto quickly stood up and looked around.

"Hinata!"

Ayame tilted her head and pointed her finger to her left. "She went that way if you're-"

"Thanks for the free meal, guys! I'll pay you back when I become hokage!" The jinchuuriki sprinted out of the noodle shop. Quickly he spotted Hinata who was unaware of Nauto's presence.

"Hey Hina-"

"Naruto! Naruto Naruto!" A group of children ran up to the young man, stopping him from going after Hinata, "Can we get your autograph! Pleaaase?"

"S-Sorry kids, I really can't right now. I'll have to do it another-"

"WAAAAAAAH!" The group of kids cry loudly.

 _Oh man... What do I do now?! I gotta talk to Hinata but these kids are crying so loud, it feels like my ears are going deaf!_

"Sorry but I really can't stay!" Naruto tries to free himself after having his legs tightly latched on to the crying children.

"No stay!" They cry out at once,

"I said hands off!"

Looking ahead of him, he caught a glimpse of Hinata's slumped posture. To him, it looked kinda odd.

"Hinata!" He calls out to the navy-haired girl again.

This time, she turned around and gasped in shock when she saw Naruto.

 _I c-can't b-b-believe it! It's Naruto!_

"Hinata! We need to talk! It's important!"

 _T-Talk? W-Wait! Does he mean..._

Images of her battle with Pain returned to her mind. Out of nervousness, Hinata took off quickly, leaving Naruto behind with the clingy children.

"No! Hinata! Wait!" Naruto cried out as he dropped his guard long enough for the kids to bring him to the ground.

"Gah!" Naruto smacked his chin against the ground. The kids then sat on top of him to make sure he would stay in place.

 _M-Man ... my chin..._

 ** _Author's Note: This is the end of my very first_** ** _chapter of my_** ** _Naruhina fic! Please let me know what you guys think of it in the review section below. Thanks for reading! :)_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Naruto's Indecisiveness**

Naruto layed on his bed; Staring at the ceiling above him, lost in thought. The lights were off and the only light that reached into his room was coming from the full moon itself. He crossed his arms behind his head for further support, closed his eyes, and sighed.

 _This is stupid... What the heck is wrong with me...?_

The thought of Hinata taking off without hesitation bothered the blonde. He was left signing those kids autographs and taking photos with them which grabbed numerous peoples interests thus wanting him to do the same for them. It took him atleast two to three hours to get to everyone so that they wouldn't feel unworthy to get autographs or photos from and with him. Of course, for the rest of the day, he didn't see the person whom he wanted to speak with.

Sakura happened to caught up to her teammate just as he was walking back to his home. She wanted to know how things were going for him which Naruto simply replied with, "Busy". Although it was late, the green-eyed beauty suggested that the two should go for a short walk and have a small talk. Normally, Naruto would become ecstatic if Sakura would hint that she would like to have some alone time with him. However, this time was different... Naruto had things to think about and he needed to do it alone without interruption. He denied his chance to spend time with her and continued his walk home by himself; leaving Sakura with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto flipped over to his right and pulled his blue covers up to his chin.

"Hinata..." Naruto mumbled as he founds himself thinking about how Hinata swooped in from out of nowhere to put some distance between him and Pain.

 ** _Flashback_**

"I won't let you hurt Naruto anymore!" Hinata bravely spoke to Pain.

"Reinforcements..." The orange-haired man said slowly.

Naruto, surprised to see Hinata standing in front of him yelled, "Why did you come out here? Just run! You can't win!"

"No!" Hinata refused, "I'm just being... selfish now."

 _W-What's she..._

"What's that mean... Hinata? Don't put yourself in danger like this, just go!"

"I'm here cause I... want to be." Hinata then paused for a moment before adding, "This time... i'm going to save you, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes slightly widened.

 _I... don't get it... Why is Hinata doing this? Why won't she leave before Pain-_

The pinned down male's thoughts were cut short when the navy-haired kunuichi continued talking after a momentarily silence.

"I used to be such a crybaby." She began, "Always giving up before I even got a chance to start. I almost took the wrong path so many times, that I lost count... But you helped me find my way and take the correct path, Naruto. I always chased after you; wanting to catch up, wanting to walk together forever with you. You changed who I am, Naruto. Your smiling face saved me, Naruto. That's why, i'm not afraid to die here! If it means I can protect you!"

 _H... Hinata.. I still don't... b-but why?_ Naruto asked in his mind. His question was answered when Hinata finished her last sentence to him.

"Because... I love you. I always will."

A soft breeze blew as Naruto stared up at his comrade and friend in complete astonishment She had just told him that she was in love with him and her smile looked as sincere as the smile Sakura would give Sasuke back when the rogue ninja had been in the village long ago.

Naruto felt something in his heart but couldn't distinguish what that feeling was. This was the very first time someone had said they loved him. He didn't know what to say or respond at that moment. Even the thoughts running through his mind had went blank after hearing the words coming out from Hinata. That is... until she took a stance to fight her now strong opponent.

 ** _End of flashback_**

"Hinata... What did you mean by... I love you...?"

Naruto pondered more.

 _Was what Hinata said true? Does she actually love me? If she does, then what kind of love did she mean? Did she mean it in a romantic sense or in a friend type of way?_

Minato's son then threw the covers off of himself and sat up, wildly scratching his head in frustration and confusion.

"Damn it!" He grunted. "Why am I even thinking so hard about this?! I love Sakura!"

The sixteen-year-old then calmed himself and placed his arm on his lap. "I mean... don't I?"

 ** _Flashback_**

Naruto, Yamato, and Kakashi were outside in the Land Of Iron. The ground was coated with pure white snow and snowflakes were falling down from the grey skies above. Sakura along with Sai, Kiba, Akamaru, and Lee had traveled all the way from the Land Of Fire in order to speak with Naruto.

Sakura, being the one to want to have a word with Naruto, approached her comrade when he asked what she and the others were doing so far away from Konoha.

"Naruto..." She stood about a few feet away from him.

"Yeah...?"

"Naruto I... I came here because... I needed to tell you that... I love you."

Immediately, the genin's eyes widened in disbelief. Yamato and Lee were shocked to have overhear Sakura's confession.

"S-Sakura... W-What was that? What did you just say? Cause I don't think I heard you right. Say it again...?"

Sakura, seemed to blush and had a small sincere smile. She looked away from Naruto and answered, "I guess... sure. What I said was..."

She then brought her gaze to Naruto's shocked expression.

"I love you, Naruto." The girl repeated.

The kunuichi then went on to explain about her feelings for Sasuke and how he meant nothing to her. She scolds Naruto for not listening more closely about her confession. Naruto thought to himself at that moment.

 _Sakura... You said you loved me and that... you're over Sasuke..._

Naruto's shocked expression changed to that of a suspicious one. The space between them grew rather discomforting. Naruto went off.

"But why, huh?" He asked while spreading his hands out to each side of him, "Why tell me? If this is suppose to be some kind of joke or something, it's not funny at all, Sakura! What happened?!"

Naruto had a closed fist over his heart. He was already having a feeling that Sakura was making a false confession.

"It's nothing, really." Sakura shook her head. She then made a gesture with her hand, "I... just finally realized my true feelings. I mean, I can't continue to love a rogue shinobi; a criminal, can I? I'm not a child anymore! It's time for me to face up to reality. That's why Naruto, you can forget about that promise you made to me."

Naruto made a face at his friend as she continued speaking.

 _The promise..._

"What's going on?!" Yamato takes a step forward, only to be stopped by Kakashi.

Naruto kept thinking to himself.

 _That promise I made to Sakura, about Sasuke... Doesn't she know that i'm searching for him because I_ _**want**_ _him to return home? And about her 'love' for me and her 'dead love' towards Sasuke-_

"Look Sakura... What happened to you? You just suddenly started liking me?"

The medical ninja came up with a way to defend herself. Naruto glared at the kunuichi and began to have some memories of her with Sasuke flooding throughout his mind. All those times she cried for him, begged Sasuke to acknowledge her, cried to Naruto to bring Sasuke back to her, and her reaction to seeing the man she cared for after three years, gave Naruto a growing pain in his already battered heart.

Sakura proceeded to embrace Naruto, stating that he was always there for her while Sasuke was not. Saying that she now sees the shinobi in a new light while she sees Sasuke as a stranger. The words Sakura were saying had a negative affect on the hero of the Leaf. It seemed to him that Sakura was lying... Lying about her feelings for Sasuke... Lying about her feelings for him! Again, Sakura had said that she cared for him and before she could say anything else, Naruto became enraged. He pushed Sakura away from him then said:

"Quit it! Just stop, Sakura! This joke of yours isn't funny at all!"

Sakura gave her comrade a look. She then smiled.

"Why are you so upset?" She asked, "I'm telling you, I like you instead of Sasuke. I-It's like that old saying... Women are as fickle as the autumn weather."

This angered Naruto further. His grip on Sakura's shoulders tightened.

"Just stop." Naruto demanded. "I hate people who lie to themselves so just **STOP IT!** "

 ** _End of flashback_**

"I... I remember... Sakura and I began to argue... and then..."

Naruto shook his head; quickly dismissing this hurtful memory. He positioned himself back onto his bed and pulled the yellow sheets over his entire body this time.

 _Sakura's deeply in love with Sasuke. I know that for sure... without a doubt._

For the rest of the night, Naruto had no sleep. By the time morning came around, his eyes were red and he didn't get up out of his bed.

In the village, Shikamaru Nara was walking around in the afternoon. Earlier, he was hoping on getting some details about what exactly went on with Naruto's transformation into the eight-tails during his battle with the akatsuki member and tried to get Naruto to open up his door so he could tell him about it but the normally exuberant male was in a whole other mode today and wouldn't open up.

Shikamaru kept walking until he noticed other villagers whispering something amongst themselves and couldn't help but to listen in.

"What's going on here?" He asked a group of women, who took notice of his appearance.

"Oh nothing really too important." One woman answers, "Us four were just discussing about the Hyuga girl."

 _They mean Hinata._

"What about her?"

"Rumors have been spreading that she stood up to that horrible man Naruto defeated and even confessed her love to him. Haven't you heard of it? I mean, aren't you Shikaku's son? I'm sure that the news should've gotten around to people like you."

"Yes, I am his son. Also, yes... I have heard about Hinata's confession." Shikamaru replied nonchalantly. "But... why does her confessing to love Naruto have such a huge impact in the village. I mean, why do you people even care?"

"Well... Um..." The lady tries to come up with a good reason.

A familiar figure happened to caught interest of Shikaku's son and after saying, "Nice talking ladies, but I got to go", Shikamaru took his leave and followed the person who caught his eye.

"Hinata." He called out.

Hinata turned around. "Oh, Shikamaru."

With his hands in his pockets, Shikamaru strolled to the lavender-eyed woman.

 _This is going to be such a drag but... I gotta do what I gotta do._

"Did you need something?" Hinata questioned, putting on a fake smile that Shikamaru could see through easily.

He sighed heavily, "Listen, I need to ask you something."

Hinata waited.

"Look... not that I care or anything, but what's going on between you and Naruto? I visited his home just a few moments ago and no matter how many times I tried knocking and ringing the door bell, the guy just wouldn't open up. I heard him say something about you. Though I gotta be honest, i'm not exactly one hundred percent sure what he was mumbling to himself. However, I do understand that Lady Tsunade had a talk with you about these rumors spreading around here yesterday."

Hinata grew uncomfortable and hid her hands in her sleeves then brought it together in front of her chest.

Yes. Even the fifth hokage wanted to know what in tarnation was going on! Almost everywhere she went, she would hear something about either Naruto and Hinata and she asked for Hinata to stop in her office so that she can have a word with her about it though Hinata wasn't really willing to speak.

"I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything." The shinobi noticed Hinata's gesture, "To be honest, myself and the others are just worried about you. We know you haven't been acting like your usual self, Hinata."

Hinata stayed in her position. Her bangs covered her eyes.

 _H-He's right... I've been crying lately but..._

"I-It's n-n-none of your business... Shikamaru."

The area grew silent.

Shikamaru stretched then crossed his arms. "Oh, that's right. I came to talk to you about something else also."

 _Something else?_ Hinata thought, _What could it possibly be?_

"Tell me what you know about Naruto's transformation. Was you the cause of it?"

"I... was weak..." Hinata stared at the ground, "Too weak to protect him..."

"Hinata... don't try to beat yourself over it. If it weren't for you, Naruto would've been captured and ended up most likely dead. You were the only one to come to his aid. You should be proud that you were brave enough to show up at the battlefield unafraid and ready to die for the one you love." Shikamaru attempted to comfort his friend.

Hinata's heart sunk. She still felt like a failure. Without hesitation, she took off running.

"Hinata!" Shikamaru yelled but to no avail.

He gritted his teeth slightly and tightened his fist into a ball.

 _Man! I knew this was gonna be such a drag!_

He then calmed himself and took a deep breath as he watched Hinata hurry away.

 _Oh well... It's not like I can make her talk if she chooses not to... Maybe i'll go find Yamato and ask about his experiences with witnessing Naruto's other transformations._

As Hinata ran blindly throughout the streets with tears in her eyes, she eventually accidentally bumped hard into someone and fell onto her bottom.

"Hinata. What are you doing?!"

Hinata looked up only to see the man who is none other but... her father.

 ** _Author's note: Well! That's it :) Please leave a review. Thanks to those who reviewed, favorite and followed. Hope you enjoyed reading this one._**


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